Chapter 31 Fans
The performance ended, and the lights froze.
Li Jinchao looked dazed and hadn't reacted yet.
During the ending pose segment, the members on stage glanced at the audience. In a daze, he seemed to see Ling Wei standing in the center, her gaze fixed squarely on his area.
Immediately afterwards, she raised an eyebrow slightly in his direction, a faint smile playing on her lips that made hearts skip a beat.
"hiss--"
Li Jinzhao gasped sharply, instinctively clutching his chest, feeling as if his heart had been violently struck by something.
Holding up the support sign with one hand, his voice trembled with excitement: "Was she...was she just looking this way? Did she smile at me?! She saw me!!!"
They were still too naive, completely unaware of the power of an idol's intense gaze, and even less understanding of the meaning of a "smiling face-to-face" approach to business.
Before he could even savor his joy, he heard a series of incredibly clear "crack!" sounds all around him.
Especially where his sister Li Jinyue was standing next to him, the sound of camera shutters was as dense as a storm.
After Ling Wei and her group left, Li Jinyue finally put down her camera with satisfaction and glanced at her brother, who was still lost in thought: "Which team did you say was the competitor?"
"......"
Oh dear, sorry, it was a complete rout.
On the other side, Qu Chen leaned back into the sofa, looked up at the ceiling, and slowly exhaled.
"Now...she's really going to be so smug," he muttered.
On a closed-off corridor bridge in the science and technology museum, Qu Mingyuan stood with his hands behind his back, flanked by several heads of cultural departments and venues.
From this angle, one can clearly overlook the entire stage, yet it remains hidden in the shadows, avoiding all public view.
After the performers left the stage, a faint murmur arose from below. A person in charge respectfully reported: "...This collaboration with Qinghe TV has far exceeded expectations, and the social response has been very enthusiastic. What are your thoughts on the follow-up?"
It wasn't until a moment after the man finished speaking that Qu Mingyuan seemed to suddenly come to his senses and gave a very soft "hmm".
He strode towards the designated passage, his steps unhurried, just as he had come:
Let's go.
The crowd immediately followed, and no one noticed that before announcing his departure, the young leader watched the entire movie "Noah" by himself, staying for a full five minutes and thirty-seven seconds longer than the originally planned inspection.
At this moment, the chat room was completely buzzing with excitement:
"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!!! What was that just now???"
"Help! I still have goosebumps! It exploded the moment that high note came out!"
"This stage design is absolutely brilliant! From AI awakening to humanity's redemption, the completeness is perfect!"
"I was just browsing casually, but now... I'm totally hooked! I'm jumping in!"
"From today onwards, I'm a Zoothys fan!"
"Zoothys! Awesome!"
While subsequent performances each had their highlights, no other stage could recreate the soul-stirring impact of "Noah."
When the host finally announced that Zoothys had won first place in the first performance with an indisputable overall score, the entire audience erupted in thunderous applause and cheers.
After the performance, in accordance with convention and security requirements, team members usually leave directly through a designated passage. However, after obtaining the consent of the staff and ensuring safety, Ling Wei made a special request to have the team's vehicle stop briefly in a relatively open area of the science and technology museum. She knew that there must be many fans waiting outside.
Sure enough, as soon as the car stopped, excited but orderly shouts came from outside the window.
Ling Wei got out of the car first and waved to the fans who were waiting. Amid the fans' shouts, she turned around playfully and suddenly imitated the groundhog meme. She clenched her fists in front of her chest and made an exaggerated mouth shape to shout, but no sound came out.
This unexpected interaction instantly ignited the atmosphere, eliciting even more enthusiastic screams of "Ahhh!"
She also spotted Li Jinyue at the very front, a look of surprise on her face. She took a few steps over and said with a smile, "Oh! It's you! You should have received your degree by now, right?"
Tears welled up in Li Jinyue's eyes instantly, and she nodded frantically.
Li Jinzhao, standing nearby, stared in disbelief. He nudged his sister with his elbow and whispered, "She actually knows you?! What have you been doing behind my back?"
Li Jinyue wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and whispered, "It's a secret."
Back in the car, Ling Wei was stopped by Lu Xiaoxiao, who looked on with curiosity: "Wow, Captain, are you so familiar with that fan girl?"
Ling Wei looked at the figure outside the window, her eyes softening: "Yes, it's quite a coincidence that I know that girl. However, I only found out today that she was actually my fan."
Her thoughts seemed to drift a little away, "It wasn't that I deliberately tried to remember..."
She was a freshman in college at the time, and she worked part-time at Haidilao to support herself.
One day, a young couple who looked like students came to the area she was in charge of. At first, Ling Wei didn't pay much attention to them, until the boy pushed her aside at the condiment area and filled two large bowls of free pumpkin porridge for himself. Only then did she start to take notice.
Being so close, she could vaguely hear their conversation.
The girl, Li Jinyue, was excitedly sharing the good news of her being recommended for postgraduate studies with her boyfriend, her tone full of anticipation.
However, her boyfriend's reaction poured cold water on her enthusiasm:
“Yueyue, I don’t know if this is the right thing to say,” the man said, his words carrying a subtle sense of superiority. “Your school isn’t a top-tier university, so the platform and resources in this field are indeed limited. In my opinion, with your family’s financial situation, you’ve already made up for your lack of academic qualifications. There’s no need for you to be matched with me in this field.”
The boy kept emphasizing that although his family background was not as good as his, his intelligence and education would give him an advantage, so they were evenly matched.
"I know what I'm saying is very realistic, and even a little harsh, but I want to speak my mind because it's you."
Ling Wei, who had been paying close attention, couldn't help but roll her eyes when she heard this. Does that mean you can disregard someone's feelings and attack them directly?
Are all city people like this? Grandma wants to go back to the countryside.
After saying that, he called out to Ling Wei, who was nearby, "Waiter, please give us another serving of pumpkin and millet porridge."
When Ling Wei brought the porridge over, he took it and considerately placed it in front of Li Jinyue, saying gently, "You don't look too well, drink some more porridge to warm yourself up."
Li Jinyue's mind was in turmoil at the time. She just whispered, "Let me think about it some more," and then silently drank her porridge. The meal ended unhappily.
After a while, Ling Wei saw them again, still sitting in the area she was in charge of.
"Waiter, two bowls of pumpkin porridge, please."
As soon as the boy sat down, he gave instructions to Ling Wei, who handed him the menu, and then turned to Li Jinyue, "Yueyue, I ate a bit too much oily food last time I went back, and my stomach isn't feeling too well. Let's have some porridge to warm up our stomachs first."
As Ling Wei turned around, she couldn't help but roll her eyes again. She had a good memory; she clearly hadn't ordered many meat dishes last time.
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